Superfund Research Program

Interdisciplinary Training Core

Project Leader: Nipavan Chiamvimonvat
Co-Investigator: Frank J. Loge
Grant Number: P42ES004699
Funding Period: 1995-2023

Project-Specific Links

Final Progress Reports

Year:   2014  2009  2004 

The overall goal of the Training Core is to produce doctoral level engineers and scientists with the breadth of expertise necessary to address the complex research problems posed by hazardous waste sites.  The researchers specifically provide for the efficient management of the training program to select highly qualified trainees and provide them with substantial enrichment opportunities.  The Training Committee selected recipients of research assistantships, non-resident tuition waivers, travel and other enrichment funds and summer undergraduate slots during the past year.  This included four recipients of work/study graduate research assistantships (some for only part of the year) and a similar number of nonresident tuition fee waivers.  The awards were spread throughout the disciplines in the program.  Trainees attended the monthly meetings of the project leaders, senior investigators, and research teams.

The Training Core supported four students in the Distinguished Undergraduate Research Training Program during the current year.  Their areas of research included lipid metabolomics, DNA microarray data analysis, cell-based bioassays for TCDD detection and development of a recombinant pesticide for integrated pest management.  This support was leveraged by having an additional 5 minority students, supported by federal minority funds, work in Superfund laboratories.

Enrichment activities, an important component of the Training Core, included training in mass spectrometry operation and techniques to maximize the full analytical potential of the instrumentation in the Superfund analytical lab.  To this end, a fall quarter weekly seminar was conducted by Dr. J. Lango with 12 graduate and postdoctoral students and staff in attendance.  The content included basic theory and function of instrumentation components, scanning techniques, decomposition processes, ion detection, chromatographic coupling, small molecules, proteins and problem solving.  Another enrichment activity supported this year was that of sending 6 graduate students from various labs to national meetings of scientific societies to present their ongoing research and to interact with other environmental health scientists working in similar areas.

The trainees attended the Environmental Toxicology Winter Quarter Seminar Series that the Training Core helped support.  The trainees also participated in the annual NIEHS Center for Environmental Health Sciences symposium and the Superfund Basic Research Program annual meeting in Seattle, WA, where three students were selected to present posters.